Surgical Co-Director and Central California Neurosurgical Liaison, Kern Medical Epilepsy Center
Chief of Neurosurgery, Kern Medical
Chief of Neurosurgery, Kaweah Delta Healthcare District
More about Dr. Chen
“Epilepsy centers exist as an integrated partnership between neurosurgery and neurology. In many instances, neurosurgical resources greatly limit the development of epilepsy centers. It is clear that subspecialty programs such as epilepsy surgery cannot exist without a robust foundation of general neurosurgical services. In Central California, we have created a unique partnership to allow subspecialty neurosurgeons from the USC Neurorestoration Center to augment the efforts of local neurosurgeons in Bakersfield and Visalia. Unlike typical outreach efforts of academic medical centers, the unique approach of the USC Epilepsy Care Consortium and USC Neurorestoration Center is designed to maximize local resources and expertise. It is only in this way that patients in Central California have this singular resource”
Surgeon Bio:
Dr. Joseph Chen received his undergraduate education at the Johns Hopkins University before receiving his MD-PhD at NYU. He then received his neurosurgery training at the USC-Affiliated Hospitals. After residency, he joined the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group and had a principal leadership role in establishing the highest volume stereotactic radiosurgery program in Southern California, as well as a pain-neurosurgery program that served as a resource for Kaiser. Working in close partnership with Dr. Charles Liu and the USC Neurorestoration Center, he is leading the establishment of a neurosurgery care partnership to bridge the gaps in the neurosurgical services in Central California, regions that are historically underserved. He is passionate about establishing the neurosurgical substrate upon which subspecialty programs such as epilepsy surgery are possible.